Trump claims 'fraudulent election' as White House alleges China stole 220 million US voter records

The White House asserted on August 16 that China pilfered information on approximately 220 million U.S. voters before and after the 2020 presidential election, labeling it the most extensive election data breach ever recorded.

According to a White House statement, intelligence indicated that China established and operated a dedicated "Data Exploitation Unit" for this operation. Simultaneously, then-President Donald Trump, in a national address, planned to release classified materials containing this information and reiterated his claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. Trump had lost the November 2020 election to Joe Biden.

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The White House has detected indications that China has established and operated a 'Data Exploitation Unit' to carry out this operation.

The White House also intended to declassify secret assessments demonstrating that vote tabulation systems are vulnerable to interference from China and Russia. However, some broadcasters, including ABC and CNN, declined to air Trump's speech live, citing the potential for false claims, and instead streamed it online.

U.S. media outlets fact-checked Trump's assertions regarding election fraud. The New York Times reported that while the documents released by the White House suggested attempts by pro-China forces to exert influence and a skeptical view of Trump by the Chinese government, these perspectives were minority opinions within intelligence agencies, with officials expressing low to moderate confidence in their assessments. CBS similarly reported that all intelligence agencies concluded China did not attempt to interfere with the technical aspects of the 2020 election's vote counting or tabulation.

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All intelligence agencies concluded that China did not attempt to interfere with the technical aspects of the 2020 election's vote counting or tabulation.